“And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses.”
(Colossians 2:13)
God is a righteous Judge. And as such, He requires just punishment for our sinful offenses. Yet in His lovingkindness and merciful grace, He provided a way to pardon guilty sinners justly through the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ, as Colossians 2:13 says, “Having forgiven you all trespasses.”
This divine pardon cuts away the knot of guilt that ties man’s sin and God’s wrath together. It cancels the bond obliging the sinner to pay his own debt, reverses the sentence of condemnation, and places that sinner under the covering of Christ’s work and outside of the Law’s condemning reach.
Moreover, God awards only full pardon; for anything less does not suit either the riches of His grace nor the sinner’s need. Great and small sins, sins against the gospel of God and His Law, the most and least heinous sins all sink down together into the sea of the Redeemer’s blood where every sin is fully forgiven.
In addition, this pardon is free to us who believe by faith in the Redeemer, though it cost God the death of His Son, and it cost Christ the price of His blood (Col. 2:13). Thomas Boston asked, “What have we to give for a pardon? Could we weep as many tears as the sea has drops, afflict ourselves as many years as the world has stood minutes, it would not buy a pardon, since it is not infinite.”[1]
This divine pardon is also unalterable and irrevocable. It is a gift of grace given to those who believe (Rom. 11:29), a gift that God never repents of bestowing. A child of God may lose the sense of his pardon, but the pardon itself is written in the Mediator’s blood, so it can never be lost.
Finally, when God pardons the sinner, He not only forgives… He also chooses to forget the injury done to His glory by the sinner! Though God’s perfections cannot include a proper forgetting, the believer’s sins are forgotten in terms of judgment by God’s law when He imputes the righteousness of Christ to our account.
This irreversible act of pardon is passed to each and every believer in the court of heaven. God extinguishes our guilt, thereby removing our due punishment, and He thereafter deals with us as kindly as if we had never offended Him because of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. He looks at us through the righteousness of Christ and beholds us without spot, perfectly pardoned.
Contemplations:
- Perfect pardon. I cannot grasp the depth of what full pardon means. My sins, great and small, are not partly erased or conditionally suspended; they’re fully forgiven in Christ. There is no leftover condemnation awaiting me in the shadows for You buried it all in the blood of Your Son. I want to live as one who believes this, not as one who walks in guilt and shame. Help me rest in what You have already accomplished.
- Nothing to offer. I cannot trade my tears for Your mercy, nor buy Your peace with my effort, because a lifetime of both could not pay for even one sin. I have nothing to offer for my pardon, and You ask for nothing but faith. Help me humble myself and come to You with empty hands, because all the fullness of Your forgiveness is found in Christ alone.
- God does not revoke. I may forget that I’m forgiven, or feel unworthy, or fall under the shadow of past failures, but Your pardon itself never fades. It is sealed by Christ, not by how I feel. You don’t revoke what You’ve declared, and what You declare over me is “forgiven.” That realization changes how I pray, how I fight sin, and how I look at my future. Help me never forget what You accomplished for me.
- He sees no stain. I know my sins, and they present themselves in my thoughts when I least expect. But You see Christ’s righteousness when You look at me and not my guilt because You’ve chosen to judge me through Him. This truth is astonishing. You haven’t just cancelled my debt; You’ve clothed me with the spotless garment of Your Son’s obedience.
Prayer (Supplication):
Lord God Almighty, You alone have power to forgive. You speak, and my guilt is gone. You decree, and sin has no more voice. I ask You to help me believe the forgiveness You give. Make this truth settle deeper than my fears and speak louder than my memories. You say that all my trespasses are forgiven in Christ. But I still feel their pain. My failures still haunt the quiet places of my heart, so help me refute them with Your Word.
You did not spare Your Son, who paid for my sin with His blood—the blood of the Lamb without blemish. Let that truth silence every doubt that steals my peace. I confess, I still try to earn what You’ve already paid for. I still measure myself against the Law, forgetting that Christ fulfilled it all. I still act like Your love is measured by my behavior. Forgive me for that arrogance. Humble me to receive what You give: freely, fully, and forever.
Thank You that I am covered by the righteousness of Christ. In Him, I am cleansed. Etch the truth of Your forgiveness in my soul so that I fear no condemnation. Indeed, no wrath remains for me because Christ suffered my punishment in my place.
And when I lose sight of mercy, bring me back. When shame speaks lies, drown it with Your truth. When I am tempted to despair, show me the nail prints in the hands of my Redeemer. Let me cry with David, “Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity.” Let me look at the cross and say, “There. There is my pardon.” Let me walk in that freedom and pray with confidence, knowing that the Law cannot curse what You have cleansed.
You removed the bond that stood against me. You canceled the debt. You reconciled me to Yourself. And You have done so without condition, without regret, without reversal. I am forgiven. Help me live like it. Let me worship like it. Let me speak and think and labor like one who is no longer condemned.
In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Further Scripture References for Colossians 2:13:
Eph. 2:1, 5; 1 Tim. 5:6; 1 John 2:12; Ps. 32:1; Isa. 1:18.
[1] Thomas Boston, The Whole Works of Thomas Boston: An Illustration of the Doctrines of the Christian Religion, Part 1, ed. Samuel M‘Millan, vol. 1 (Aberdeen: George and Robert King, 1848), 587.
